Part of the inherent joy and frustration of being a music writer lies in attempting to describe sound to a reader while simultaneously diving deep into the musical memory bank to find appropriate reference points. You like (x band)? Here’s (y band), who sound a lot like (x band)! You’ve…

Welcome once more to Kvlt Kolvmn. It’s that time again. The year has shed its final layer, curling itself into a corner and awaiting its imminent demise. Though, thankfully, not without plenty of bite left. It’s been a doozy of a year for all things metallic, with black metal being…

Greetings once more, lovers of the black. Welcome to Kvlt Kolvmn. The time is ripe for another fresh batch of black metal selections hellbent on freezing your blood and pulverizing your heart into a fine pulp. Thankfully, August offered an abundance of such releases, particularly in the experimental camp. If…

August sucks, OK? Even more than its slightly-less evil twin July, August is just a mess. Weather sucks all over and the oppressiveness of summer reaches its true heights. There are days where I almost feel like it’s always been summer and will always be summer, just sun and sun never-ending (and…

Each month, we always seem to come to the same conclusion when it comes to our Editors’ Picks column: Friday release days open the floodgates and unleash a seemingly endless stream of quality new music. But while some of our Editors and Contributors sit down gleefully each week to dive into this newly stocked treasure…

One of my favorite aspects of being a music writer is being able to spend plenty of time dissecting albums I review for the blog ahead of their release. And for albums like Out of Time, that extra time is nothing short of a blessing. The album is hardly your father’s…

Anonymity in black metal has always been a double-edged sword. While it’s refreshing to see artists solely focused on their music and presentation rather than themselves as artists, it can also be frustrating to be unable to spotlight bands that truly excel at their craft. This latter point certainly applies…

San Francisco “dark music” label The Flenser released some of the most noteworthy experimental music of last year. New albums from White Suns, Have a Nice Life, Planning for Burial, Botanist, Wreck & Reference, Mamaleek and Kayo Dot covered a broad range of genres and all helped to establish The Flenser as one of the most eclectic and exciting labels out there…